Burnt crusts

[texassourdough]

Re: Burnt crusts

Hi David!

Good rule of thumb! Only weakness is variation in "discomfort" but...as for semolina, a bit of experience can help one hone in on the right answer.

Jay

[david s]

Re: Burnt crusts

I agree, I also use the semolina on the floor as a temp. gauge. All the fancy electronic temp equipment is not necessary. For baking and roasting the fist in the centre of the oven is also highly reliable. Hold your arm in for 3 secs before discomfort and your oven will be arounf 250 C

[texassourdough]

Re: Burnt crusts

Just as mixing dough by the cup is imprecise and invites problems, so is trying to proof bread or decide when an oven is ready by time. There are way too many variables for time to be consistent. And your oven, the wood (and size) you burn, how long you fire, etc. are all factors.

Your comments suggest you don't have an infrared thermometer, which is nice, but IMO not necessary. You quite simply want to wait until the hearth temperature reaches the appropriate temperature (which is a function of your personal taste, the dough, the style of pie (thicker/thinner/etc). A good rule of thumb which I have repeated way too many times on this forum is to toss about a quarter to half teaspoon of flour or semolina onto the hearth. And count by seconds with the toss at zero. The flour will suddenly turn black at some point. The goal on my oven with my dough etc. is for the flour to turn black at count "three". If you toss the flour in and it instantly turns black (and I am guessing yours will) it is WAY TOO HOT! Counts from 2 to 5 typically work okay.

There is NO WAY to tell how hot the hearth is without doing something like the above, having an infrared thermometer, or having a lot of experience. And if you don't have any idea how hot the hearth is how can you expect to get consistent results? You can't!

I have been doing this for six years and I always check the hearth (with flour) before I start baking pizza because I don't see any point in guessing and serving pizza that is below my ability. (Once you are too the right range it should stay there a while...but if it the oven gets slow the flour approach also gives you an idea how cold the oven is so you can rake coals back over the floor, recharge, and get back in the zone.

[Spunkoid]

Re: Burnt crusts

How soon after you move the coals over to the side are you putting your pizza's in? The floor is red hot under the coals and it takes 15-20 minutes or more to cool a little. I keep a bank of coals off to the side, throw a stick of wood in every so often to keep some flame licking the top of the dome. Turn the pizza's while cooking to make sure they have even heat. Different parts of the oven have different temps. Move it around. I do not use corn flour as I find it burns quickly if the oven floor is too hot.

Rick

[texassourdough]

Re: Burnt crusts

Hi TS!

Back to your pies...when the bottom is done and the top is a bit light, try lifting the pie up into the top of the dome. It is typically a lot hotter up there and can finish the top quickly without doing much to the bottom!

(you probably know that by now but I am confident there are others who don't!)

Jay

[brickie in oz]

Re: Burnt crusts

easy fix is to just lift pizza on peel a few inchs from the top of the dome as soon as the base is at the desired level of browning;
you can then finish the cheese and toppings to desired level in a few more moments. I use this technique frequently and it allows you to adjust for all the variables previously quoted.
good luck!

Called the Jimmy Hendrix, "excuse me while I kiss the sky"

[lag]

Re: Burnt crusts

easy fix is to just lift pizza on peel a few inchs from the top of the dome as soon as the base is at the desired level of browning;
you can then finish the cheese and toppings to desired level in a few more moments. I use this technique frequently and it allows you to adjust for all the variables previously quoted.
good luck!

[heliman]

Re: Burnt crusts

I chased leoparding for a while and have found the sweet spot for the base to be at 379c to produce a mild spotting of char on the base.

The get the spots on the top, I just crank the flames up very high (licking around the roof) and it produces good leoparding.

I have found a good 2 day fermentation with biga starter works consistently well for making spots.

[Grimaldi]

Re: Burnt crusts

10 hours?

What's a little time and firewood...doesn't everybody take 10 hours to heat up?

We cooked about 150 pizzas in that 10 hours.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Burnt crusts

I normally do not cook until it is all below 800, but I was doing Neapolitan style pies. The typical Neo pie is very wet in the middle and charred on the edge, which is not my preferred style, but was the target for these pies.

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: Burnt crusts

Are you using any oil or sugar in your recipe? Both of those items help brown the dough in cooler (500 deg) ovens, but may cause burning in hotter ovens...

[lwood]

Re: Burnt crusts

I only get charing on the edge and top with an active flame at least to the apex of the dome. That requires a fresh piece of fire-wood added and stabilized. I never put a pizza in without an active flame.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Burnt crusts

Here is a pic of the inside of the oven after having it fired to pizza temps for over 10 hours.

10 hours?

[lwood]

Re: Burnt crusts

Ts,
The top looks under done, while the bottom is almost charred. 45-60 sec is not very long to cook a pizza. I brag on mine with 3 min pizzas. Might try cooking at a lower temp and try to get the cooking time closer to 3 min. 650 to 750F is where I like the hearth. Hotter than that is too fast for me. You can always lift the pie close to the dome for final browning..

[Grimaldi]

Re: Burnt crusts

You may also have too many coals in your oven and the pizzas are burning on the edges because they're too close to the coals, try removing some. The greedy ones get our first pizza and it is usually a dud, like the first pancake, seems like fair justice to me.

Here is a pic of the inside of the oven after having it fired to pizza temps for over 10 hours. The pizza in the pic was after we were done and one of the kids wanted to make and cook a pizza.